University of Virginia Library

1366.

[Father of me, and all mankind]

Our Father which art in heaven, &c. —xi. 2–4.

Father of me, and all mankind,
And all the hosts above,
Let every understanding mind
Unite to praise Thy love;
To know Thy nature and Thy name,
One God in Persons three,
And glorify the great I AM
Through all eternity.
Thy kingdom come, with power and grace,
To every heart of man;
Thy peace, and joy, and righteousness,
In all our bosoms reign!
Thy righteousness our sin keep down,
Thy peace our passions bind,
And let us in Thy joy unknown
The first dominion find.
The righteousness that never ends,
That finishes our sin,
The joy that human thought transcends,
Into our souls bring in,

201

The kingdom of establish'd peace,
Which can no more remove,
The perfect power of godliness,
The' omnipotence of love.
Then let us hear the trumpet sound,
That latest of the seven;
Come, King of saints, with glory crown'd,
The' eternal God of heaven.
Judge of Thine antichristian foe,
Appear on earth again,
And then Thy thousand years below
Before Thine ancients reign.
Hasten that happiest gospel-day,
When all on earth forgiven
As fully shall Thy will obey
As angels do in heaven;
While not one disharmonious string
Is heard below, above,
But all in perfect concert sing,
And praise the God we love.
Give us this day our daily bread,
As manna from above,
And every happy moment feed
Our hungry souls with love;
The' imperishable meat bestow,
For which our spirits cry,
And, nourish'd by Thy grace below,
Our souls shall never die.
Now, Father, now our sins forgive,
With present pardon bless,
And let our souls the kiss receive
Which seals our inward peace;

202

Accept us in Thine own dear Son,
Who bore our sins away,
Who all our debts discharged alone,
And left us nought to pay.
Grace unconditional and free,
Thy sweet forgiving grace,
Instructs us, as embraced by Thee,
Our brother to embrace:
Since Thou our infinite offence
Dost pardon and forget,
His debt of scarce an hundred pence
We cheerfully remit.
Ah, leave us not, above our power,
Above our patience tried,
But turn aside the dreaded hour,
And from temptation hide:
Or if we fall into the snare,
Let us our Lord behold,
Whose hand doth through the furnace bear,
And brings us forth as gold.
Deliver us from evil, Lord,
Thy church so dearly bought,
From every evil work, and word,
And every evil thought:
Preserve us from the tempting fiend,
The world of wickedness,
Till all our wars and conflicts end
In everlasting peace.